Traditional Rodding a FAD??? Some thoughts....

My $ .02...........

I know more than a few old dry lakes and Bonneville racers from California and to a man they see a huge difference between a *traditional* rod and a *rat rod*.......back in the '40s when these guys were building their cars, they did double duty in most cases....drive them on the street and race them in the desert on the weekends........they built their cars as best they could......they tried to make them as good and finished as they were able with the technology they had, which wasn't much! They painted them with shiny paint if they could afford it.....they only left them in primer when they just couldn't afford a paint job......primer wasn't a *style* to them.....

When these guys see rat rods today they most definitely reject them as either too junky, too rusty, or just plain unsafe.....and I can tell you from firsthand experience hanging with the old guys in California every year......they do not like or respect rat rods........they still work on cars, some of them still having their roadsters from the '40's, believe it or not!

They have advised and counseled me on the way that they built their cars 60 years ago and I take their advice and apply their *traditional* ways and ideas to my Deuce 3w coupe.......build it yourself....do it as well as you can....drive it as much as possible, in a safe manner....

Fire away....

Brucie

http://home.comcast.net/~cuznbrucie/WHEELERS.htm

 

Exactly how I am. Never was one to follow fads.
Trying to build a traditional car 'cause that's what I like, even though it gets frustrating when parts seem to be getting harder to find and very $$$$$$$ . Trad cars ain't cheap.

Josh

 

I'm still looking for the rule book that a lot of you guys are using. What page says a Hot Rod is something built like in the 40s? Do you really believe that the cars that were built in that time period never progressed? Those early rodders were always changing, and modifying there cars with what was available. When Cadillac came out with an overhead valve engine, guys that could afford them were swapping them for their tired flatheads. Olds, Chevy, and Pontiac engines all followed suit, sort of like modern street rodders are doing with Northstars and LS1s. More power,and technology, just like the 50s. I personally enjoy a variety of cars from traditional to contemporary, it's what keeps this hobby going. If it wasn't for constant change, we wouldn't have any car shows to go to, and it wouldn't be much of a hobby. If you think that all the so called wannabes are new people jumping on the bandwagon, think again. If you happen to have the September issue of Street Rodder magazine, check the very traditional 32 roadster. Guess what, the owner is a "gold chainer''. Is he a wannabe, no, he is an old hotrodder from the 50s that has taken time off to build a buisness, have a family, and can now afford to have anything he wants. I make my living in the car hobby business, and I can tell you this, a good portion of our business is the gold chain crowd that you all seem to hate, and most of them are old time rodders that have made their way through life like the previously mentioned guy, and can now afford to come back to their dreams of yesterday. You need to stop labeling the people in our hobby, and take into consideration everybodys tastes, and realize they aren't all the same. Every time you see a guy in a rat rod, traditional rod, street rod, muscle car, or whatever, don't put them in a specific catagory and turn your back on them because they are all from the same car guy mold that you all came from. I'm reasonably sure none of you were born with a title in your hand for the perfect traditional car. You have all worked your way into this hobby and formed your opinion on what it is that you like and dislike, but keep in mind there isn't one person on this great board that wrote the rules, or has the right to invite or turn away anybody from the car hobby.

 

Who cares...... ?..if it is a fad...or NOT...

Just please yourself.......

If you build a car to suit your friends or the show judges..you will NEVER be happy with it.....

I am a old retired car nut guy and I consider my old Henry Ford steel 32 a cross between a Traditional rod and a ......dare I say it ? ? a street rod. It has had old Ford F100 wheels ( 5 on 5 and 1/2 pattern ) since the day it rolled out of the shop......long before RED WHEELS came back into style. It has the 56 F100 front brakes. It has a F100 pattern rear end ( early Bronco ) ......it has a SBC and a automatic

It looks Old and traditional.......yet it is a dependable road car..( 700+ miles just last weekend ) It suits me.....call it what you want......

Rat rod
Street rod
Traditional rod....

I just call it mine..... labels cannot hurt me.....

 

Hot rodding has been a movement, not a fad, from its loosely pegged inception to the present. It's far more important, more essential than some of the very visible but transient would-be trendy "fad du jour" expressions that have attempted to define and own it, to take it over.

Just as hot rodding survived the resto-rod craze, it will survive the present, trendy rat-rod period that's already beginnng to play out. Hot rodders by nature are motivated to improve and enchance their hardware, their form of expression. There's little if any of that evident in the rat rod aspect of hot rodding, in spite of its practitioners claiming to be hot rodding's inheritors. Traditional hot rodding? Bullshit!

 

i agree with av8 i show people pics of my car or tell them i'm building a hot rod and some say " your building a ratrod or a jesse james car " i say no i'm building a REAL HOTROD . i hate square tube stock flat sheet metal chicken wire car with the battery on the floorbaord gas can sitting next to it car . can't wait till that fad dies . my 2 cents. billy

 

I think the whole "rat rod" craze, along with all the wanna-be's that start their pomp to be cool thing will soon die off. I know plenty of people that have lived that lifestyle forever, but there are so many people that just do it to jump on the "whats cool today" bandwagon.

Traditional rods will never fade away imo though. Its part of America, and an addiction that too many have to fade away

My .02c

 

I think where we live is a little different, I can count the "traditional" rods I've seen this summer on one hand. It seems like the "scene" is blowing up in California because of the higher poulation, hence more folks consuming more vintage tin making it scarcer and more pricey. I was all nervous about buying a car RIGHT NOW to build my custom so I wouldn't miss my chance before it was all rusted out or consumed or shipped to California and I'm glad I did. (I bought a near-perfect, all steel 52 for a whopping $700.00) But now that I'm paying more attention to this kind of thing I feel like I can't walk down the street without tripping over old cars for sale, and CHEAP! They made millions of those things, and how many people are on the HAMB?

 

So by some peoples thinking, I am a poser since I am planning on dropping a 305 and either overdrive automatic or T5 into the 49 Fleetline I have gotten, and don't have a greased up pomp?

Bit of a closed mind on here sometimes.

Disk brakes on the front, dual res master cylinder, traditional looking fuel injection, and a hidden stereo because I like my tunes make me a street rodder instead of a hot rodder?

I am building the car to be my daily driver and would rather err on the side of safety and reliability than be period perfect. Vintage rims, wide whites, and a flat black paint job are the plan because it needs lot of bodywork, that will be done as the car is getting driven. As I have time and money.

I am building this car on a tight budget, and can't afford to go out and find a period correct motor, rebuild it, spend some serious bucks for period correct speed equipment, then try to find parts when it breaks done when I am trying to get to work.

 

Ever thought that
if you absolutely still want to call your ride "traditional",even if its NOT,maybe you're the one with closed mind?

 

I don't know if I'm traditional or not.
I just like to see if I can get something that looks OK put together for not much money doing all the work myself.
I really get excited when people tell me "no way you can do that"
I really enjoy being around people that I can learn from.
I like all kinds of cars , High buck ,low buck,I even like Motor pickes I mean cycles.
I like freckles on boobies, large camel toes and girls that smell nice.


Am I tradional ? probably not ,maybe normal?

 

I think that building hot rods is the ultimate destination for people who are do it yourselfers on a budget. I have that fatal condition so I know what I'm talking about. I'll gladly walk buy goods in a store that I need, which are in perfect new working order, until I find one that is broke or needs a little fixing. I can't help it. God knows I've tried to over come, but I am just so much happier fixing up some broken thing than having a new working thing...this applies to everything...and rest assured it drives my woman crazy.

 

Is it currently a fad?

YES. ABSOLUTELY.

At this year's Woodward Dream Cruise (the High Holy Holiday of the Center of the Known Motoring Universe) I peeped several purpose built rats. 'Purpose built' is defined as yankin' a buncha shite outta the barn, welding it together, slapping a 'For Sale' sign on it, and taking it to WDC.

These cars were unmitigated pieces of crap designed to part a fool from his money.

REAL rodders (whether the year was 1948 or 1998) pushed the envelope of time, money, talent, and resources. You make the most of whatcha have - don't care if it's got a 2004 blown mod motor in it - it's your bux, your vision. You put it together - run whatcha brung.

On the other end of the spectrum, I talked to several guys about specs on their 'traditional' rods - about half of them just shrugged, sayin', 'I bought it this way.'

Sad.

Any true rodder will tell you that fully 80% of the satisfaction derived from the car is a DIRECT result of having screwed it together yerself. The only reason I've owned so damned many cars is that once they match the pictures in my head - they become boring. Buying a finished car is instant gratification - shallow. The buyer doesn't feel the blood, sweat, and tears that made up the ride - the trips to the emergency room to get body parts stiched up from encounters with rusty metal, the burns from the torch...The whole schmeer.

FWIW - it's gonna get worse - the fad part, that is.

Fifty-somethings that tired of the Harley lifestyle 'fad' (read - too hard to keep a Dresser upright at the lite) are lookin' this way, cuz it has some of the feel of the H-D 'experience' with four wheels. They got money to spend - and there's more of them than there are original bits laying about. Prices are gonna rise - it's a fact, jack.

Personally, I don't care. I'm gonna do what I like, gonna do it for ME. Gonna sit in the garage 'till 2:00 AM, hammering, grinding, sweating, cursing, bleeding...

and loving every damned minute of it.

 

i like cars. and bikes. most of them old cars and old bikes.

 

What he said.

 

Please explain to me how I have a closed mind.

As far as I am concerned and anyone I know I am building a traditional style rod with upgrades to make it more reliable and safe. It seems your the one with the closed mind, to have such a narrow view.

You really think that the guys in the 50's and 60's would purposely make an unsafe car that they cannot get parts for?

Considering most of those old cars were used a lot of the time as a daily driver, it seems unlikely. They built it with what parts and knowledge was available to them, and a lot of those old rods were just plain dangerous because the people who built them just didn't know better. So should I build my car to be dangerous because that how they used to do it?

Traditional doesn't mean that the car cannot have any parts made after 1960. It is a style. Its a vehicle built in the style of a certain time period. You going to call the Rolling Bones guys cars untraditional because they run T5's in their rods?

Unless some self important prick decides to check the car for their version of accuracy, noone will be able to tell trans is an overdrive, or that the small block is a 305 and not a 283. The crossram with TBI throttle boddies will look just like a pair of carbs with the scoops on them. The car will start, idle, and drive down the highway much better than carbed.

The car was built for me, in a style I like, with what funds and parts I have availble. How is that not traditional hot rodding? Isn't that what your dad or granpa would have done if they wanted a rod?

As far as most people are concerned, it is a traditional hot rod. I am building it to please me, not you. If you don't think its traditional, fine. But don't tell me I have a closed mind, because my car doesn't fit YOUR narrow view.

 

Yes, i saw this SEMA ad,it just relates to parts, and what is the next new
hot item as it relates to "our" side of the car hobby.not new "Fad".
SEMA represents the manufacturers, and therefore sales .
We ,as traditional rodders are used to using old,and "cooler "stuff
for our cars, parts that the manufacturers can reproduce.
They, SEMA,( thier manufacturing members)Goodguys,NSRA can no longer ignore the fact that we represent $$$$$$$ to them and that while they
may not really like our cars or our kind ,they do like our money.

 

I know many people see it as merely a FAD, very much akin to PRO STREET and what not.



That's good !!!! If you are right,then the wannabees will move on to the "next big thing". And we can go back to being pushed to the back row. Cool.

I bought my '40 Ford coupe (my first hotrod ) in 1994 and to me it was just a nice old coupe that was built sometime in the '70's. I couldn't afford a lot of upgrades ,so I did what I could do to make it safe and reliable. I loved that car but felt like I was being passed by with all of the smoothy style '40's that were around at the time. Then I found the Jalopy Journal and sent Ryan some pix of it. Well, Ryan made me see what I really had and his praise made me proud that I hadn't changed it too much.
Growing up in the 50-60's made me focus on that era as I got older, so now, I'm "IN " again. Who cares? I'm having fun.
Wannabees can now related to my primered '34 coupe and don't ask when I'm going to paint it.Big deal. I never cared what they thought anyway.

 

i agree with this 100%...rat rodding is a fad, and hopefully will go away soon, along with all the johnny come latelys that grew out of riding their skateboards, and got into old cars for the time being.

 

I hope it's a fad, that way when everybody moves to the next big thing I can have all the parts and cheap abandoned projects.

On the other hand, there goes the aftermarket support.

 

I was interested in building a "traditional" type rod in the 80s. I had seen my dad's "little pages" and loved what I saw. I don't think it's a fad, it's something that's just cool.

 

I don't like the words 'traditional', or 'rat rod'. I'm buildin' a 'hot rod'! A hot rod becons up visions for me of days-of-old, fire-breathin' monsters! Coupes and Roadsters! Heavily hammered! Mean lookin' sumsabitches! A hot rod shakes when you fire it up! It's a race car with a license plate! You want to build a reliable daily driver? Don't call it a hot rod. Call it a cool old car. I want to be 20 again, and this is one helluva 'E'-ticket ride back to there! This feeling will always be with us. It's not a fad. There's just too many splinter-groups that have sprouted from original hot rodding. Kinda like religion. Everybody has their own take on the subject. Where's my Corona?

 

+1, i hate how boyd's place is called "Boyd Cottington Hot Rods" when they arent nothing of hot rods...at all. and the fact that he hasnt actually built a car in years. he just drives them when they are done.

oh and i also hate it when people call a muscle car a hot rod.

 

As I explained before - its a style. How is my car not a traditional hot rod?

Explain it to me...

Is it too new? Would a 283/powerglide combo meet your narrow minded view of traditional (even though they will look identical)? How about a single res master cylinder? Do I need an intake with multiple 97's (even though my FI setup is going to look pretty much the same)? Are only flathead powered A's and dueces your idea of traditional style? Is the planned flat paint and pinstriping too modern?

What is wrong with it? What make it not a traditional style hotrod? Please explain to me how a car you have never seen, and has only has some of its running gear described is not a traditional style car?

You are dismissing me before even seeing the car, without even a description of the car itself! You even dodged the question about the rolling bones cars running a modern transmission - in one of the coolest, and most traditional looking cars around.

Now, please tell me - who is the narrow minded one?

Quantify what is a traditional style car...instead of just repeating "yours isn't" - for a car your have NEVER SEEN!

 

many good points. Zodoff has some explaining to do...

 

either you get it or you dont,,,

 

Simply build it how you want, but please build it safe! I went to a local cruze spot and saw the worst homemade front suspension ever! (if I saw him coming up behind me I would pull over for fear the front end of his car could hit the ground at any moment and catapult him into the back of my truck!) So in turn I don't like that some mags aren't encouraging that you put thought into your car, instead just slap that junk together and hit the road!

 

i have seen alot of old style rods just this summer that i have never seen on the HAMB,,no offense to the HAMB of course,,but there are people out there everywhere building old traditional styled hotrods...

there is NO comparison,,,

clapped out 54 4dr fords dont count...thanks to ebay ,,all the cool shit to build period rods is way outta price...

again,,,clapped out 54 4dr fords dont count

 

Rock-a-billy is a fad!
just go to Hot Topic! All those Manson fags have pomps now
Sad to say the cars are a big part of the "lifestyle" (except most of these posers dont have rods cause they spent all thier money on matching tatoos).

I dont feel nearly as bad for myself and other rodders who are JUST about the cars, as I do for the people who are (and have been) serious about Rock-a-billy.
I sure wish i owned an upright bass company.

once girls start liking a different style things will go back to normal

I remember when girls wouldnt even ride in my cars, now they ask me if they can!

 

Back then there were no names for classes or hotrods.
This all came about because the gold chainers had to rise above the rest.

Ive been cruizin' for as long as I can remember.

This satin black primer trend just came about in the last 20 years or so.

Ive owned lots of rods, and one that I can remember was in grey primer for a year, then got painted.

We had bombers, our daily drivers, and our hotrods. Which were worked on and run hard on weekends.

What you see at car shows now a days, aint no where close to what I saw on the loop.

I was blessed to grow up in a town like were Gorege Lucus did. I also watched it die out in the 70s and never return.

The main difference today is there are cookie cutter rods, and everyone has the same stuff in them. Bikes are the same. Some where somebody desided what was a hotrod looks like, and set up to make all the baby boomers happy.

Im glad I have a few pictures and lots of memories or races, and girls, and silly stupid things we did.

The rat rods of today would not have been allowed on the streets of my town. The cops would have been all over them like flies on poop.